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Today was the start of the most unbelievable memories.
Azizi is our Tanzanian leader for our trip. He owns Trek2Kili (he's on the web and Facebook). I didn't realize until today that Azizi was doing much more than guiding us up Kilimajaro... he's guiding us through all of our Tanzanian adventures! At the young age of 28, Azizi has worked diligently to build his business and I have never grown to rely upon and completely trust a "stranger" so quickly in my life. In the last 36 hours I have learned so much about this amazing leader and have so much respect for him. I still can't believe he's only 28, but he couldn't believe I was 36 so I guess we are even :). If you ever come to Tanzania, look him up, and he asked that you be sure to say who sent you!
Today we had four amazing (and eye opening) experiences... all arranged by and attended with our awesome Azizi... and this was all done last minute due to our Gombe plans changing
We went to down town Mwanza to exchange American money for Tanzanian Shillings. This was an interesting start to the day. I'm a country girl. I don't really "do" urban crowded cities well and this place was packed beyond belief. I was quite nervous about the looks we got from some... but I was never fearful, as we always had Azizi by our side. I also recognize that some of the looks were not meant to threaten but were curious and a lot of my fears are in my own mind-- I feel the same way when we are in Detroit or San Francisco at times. I'd smile, but many would not smile back. However, some did, so it was worth it. :-)
Our day suddenly shifted gears big time. . . We drove to a rural part of Mwanza and there were way more animals and trees than people again! For the next 3 hours, we spent time with the Sukuma Tribe of Mwanza. Without the ability to show you pictures and video right now it is hard to describe the amazing interactions we had. They performed a bunch of traditional dances for us. We even joined in on a few! Many of them spoke enough English that we could have meaningful conversation and they taught us some Swahili! The children were adorable and liked having their picture taken and then look at themselves in the display (yay again for digital cameras). This tribe is trying to bridge their culture with more modern cultures (I hope they don't do it too much and lose their amazing identity). It was surprising to me to discover that several of them have Facebook pages, and one sent me a friend request already tonight. What a wonderful experience....I loved the sound of their drums!
Next we went to a local orphanage/youth home. This was another eye opener. I wish my kids could witness this first hand. . . These children had so little but were filled with smiles. They older boys were busy practicing soccer, as they had a tournament coming up soon. The younger boys were all about visiting with us. Many of us brought them simple toys, pens, paper, tooth brushes, etc. ,so that helped breakdown any shyness. The young ones called us all "teacher" and I was so impressed with their manners--they said please and thank you (asante and karibu) for everything we gave. They took turns while I was hanging things to them. Their smiles and laughter melted my heart. We had a blast playing with the children with their gifts. The older boys spoke some English and we made a couple more Facebook friends as well. It was hard to say good bye (Kwaheri) as we were having such fun playing and sharing laughs!
The market. . . We stopped at a fish market in Mwanza (My first one) and did some art and souvenir shopping before heading back to the lodge. Dinner ended our day and as we all spent the evening discussing friends and family and sharing what experiences that day really stuck with us the most.
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